Hammock-stretcher



- lm knees (No Model.)

1V[. CAMPBELL.

v HAMMOGK STRETGHBR. No. 374,776. Patented Dec. 13., 1887,

15. 5% I www UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARVIN CAMPBELL, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.

HAMMOCK-STRETCHER.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,776, datedDecember 13, 1887.

Application filed October 4,1887. Serial No. 251,481. (No model.)

stick, as shown at I), carried forward over .20 (LZZ whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, MARVIN CAMPBELL, of South Bend, in the county of St.Joseph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hammock Stretchers; and I do hereby-declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompaham mock-sticks employed for keeping spread themeshes of the hammock; and it consists in the employment of a stick andattached cord for separating and distending the several strands of thehammock, so as to render it more comfortable and safe for the occupant.

To these ends the invention consists in the peculiar and novel stick andcord,hereinafter described, illustrated in the drawings, andparticularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings by letter, W designates the hammock of usualconstruction, having at the ends of the net the severalsupporting-strands, w w, and the outside re-enforce strands, '10 w, onits edges.

A designates the hammock-stick, and B the cord thereof. The stick A maybe either curved or straight, as desired, being shown in this instanceas straight. The ends of stick A are cross-notched, as shown at a a,respectively, the said notches crossing each other at right angles andthe notches (6 being preferably deeper than notches a.

The stick A is placed at the ends of the hammock, as shown in Fig.1,with the strands wwin the notches a a of the opposite ends, as shown,and the strands to resting upon the top surface of the stick.- The cordB, which has oneend secured to an end of stick A on its lower side, isthen turned up through notch a at its endof the stick, binding strandwin' notch a, and is then carried forward over one set of the strands toon top of the stick, and then tight-1y looped in a slipknot around theanother set of strands to, looped again, and so on to the opposite endof the stick, where it is passed downward through notch a,over strandwin notch a, binding the latter therein, and then has its free endsecured to the stick, so that the loops and strands cannot disengage orthe strands w escape from notches a a.

The loops b of cord B are preferably made as shown-that is, where it isdesired to make the loop the cord B is held by one hand, its free endpassed once around the stick A, thence back around itself, and forwardto the next loop, as shown. These loops can be quickly formed and arewell k nown,and can be readily understood from the drawings.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated two kinds of loops, which can be readilyunderstood by reference to said figure.

Instead of looping the cord, it might be knotted; butI prefer the loops,as they are equally as efficient and much readier of ap plication orundoing.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of the stick and cord. the loopsin the cord, I perforate the stick at proper intervals, forming theperforations, preferably in pairs, as shown, and then pass the cords upand down through these perforations around the strands of the hammock,

binding the outer strand, w, in the notched ends of the stick, asbefore.

The advantages of this invention are, that by the use of thebinding-cord in place of notches cut in the stick to separate thestrands the latter are not cut out or abraded thereby, and can yieldmore readily to accommodate the position of the occupant of the hammockwithout strain or binding upon the stick unduly; also, that while thestick and cord separate the strands, yet they bind the outer strands'inone relative position and prevent the escapeof either from the stick, orthe escape of the stick therefrom when the weight of the occupant isthrown entirely upon one.

outer side of the hammock, as would be thecase were the strands to notbound in place. That the stick is much cheaper than the notched stick isobvious, and by its use the strands may be divided separately, in pairs,or in any desired bunches, as may be desired.

The application of the cord to a curved stick.

In this,in place of formingis the same as to the straight stickdescribed, as is obvious.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. A stick for hammocks, havingits ends notched at right angles, the similar notches at its oppositeends engaging the outer cords of ahammock, and a retaining-cord securedto said stick, adapted to enter the remaining notches to retain thehammock-cords therein, and also to be looped around the strands toseparate the same, all constructed and arranged substantially as and forthe purpose described.

2. The herein-described hammock-stick, having notches a in its ends forengaging the outer cords of a hammock and the cross notches a in itsends, and provided with a cord, B, adapted to enter the notches a and,bind the outer strands in notches a, and also to be looped aroundthestick and inner strands of the hammock at regular intervals to separate and distend the strands, all substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

3. The combination, with the hammock W, having outer strands, w, andinner strands, 25 w, of the stick A, provided with notchesa a in itsends, the former engaging the strands w of the hammock, and thebinding-cord B, entering notches a and binding strands w in notches athereby, and extending across and 30 looped around stick A at regularintervals over one or more strands w, to separate and distend the same,all substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 5 my own I aflix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

MARVIN CAMPBELL.

Vitnesses:

J AMES DU SHANE, CHAS. W. WILEY.

